Sky
by Dragonfire781
Summary: A mysterious girl in her own rights, Sky, a young 19 year old girl, is without a doubt one of the best people to know. Born in the year 2018, and considered an engineering and scientific savant, she is an extremely talented Psi, heavily augmented, and professional assassin . Not a girl you want to mess with. Some how one way or another she ends up in the Mass Effect Universe. OC
1. Chapter 1: 2037

Chapter 1: 2037

**Vancouver, Canada, Earth**

**July 5th 2037**

**Upper Level, Commercial District**

"Sky, are you sure you want to do this? The risk is unnecessary," Amelia warned, worry strong in her voice. I moved quickly down the road, thousands of people moved in either direction. I navigated to one of the larger crowds heading in the same direction.

"I want to know, how am I to find out, if I don't get tested," I responded, narrowly missing a man in a sharp business suit. Rapidly heading down the busy street I dodged a few more people. Cringing as an air-car flew overhead I refocused on my call

"But you're barely even nineteen, how will you get past screening," she asked. If only she knew the real me, the real reason for my illegal side trip.

"I have my ways," I said smirking. Rounding the corner I spotted my objective. A giant building loomed in the distance, easily a kilometer in height. Organic curves and pleasant scenery lined the structure. Soft lights and plants lined the inner railings of the upper offices. Gold tinted glass warms the interior of the building with rich hues of natural lighting.

"Oh no, please tell me you're not going down to the filthy back alley clinic," she panicked. The dingy back alley clinic she refers to is a front for a highly sterilized implant clinic where one could get black market wares and military grade implants, for the right price.

Scoffing, I reassured her "Please Amelia, I'm way past that. I have a way into the VPT." (Not an easy feat let me tell you.)

"What!? That's one of the most advance high tech Psi-labs in the country!"

"Like I said, I have my ways," I arrived at the building front to only be stopped by the sight of heavily armed security guards. Many other citizens went about their business shoving past me in an unnatural hurry.

"Well don't let Jason catch wind of this, he'd kill us both." Ah Jason, Amelia's obnoxious younger brother with perfect everything, medical genius, athletic, street smart. I nodded and the quickly added, "Will do." Clicking the earpiece I ended the call.

Assessing the building I spot several weaknesses in the security. A 10 second gap in patrol patterns, a blind spot in camera coverage, an open air duct scheduled for repair. I started planning my infiltration of the building when I spotted a young man dressed in hospital wear waving discreetly for my attention. Standing down the block at the corner of an alleyway, he leaned out and motioned to me.

Slipping away from the front of the building I jogged down to the alley. The side of the building was not as neat and orderly as the front. Trash, broken equipment, and used needles littered the dumpsters. A nearby loading dock bustled with activity. Several large trucks and air cars were unloading equipment and supplies. A truck unloaded a crate with Astro-Physics symbols on the side. A security camera being disabled and an emergency door unlocking stole my attention. The door swung open silently and I slipped inside. The man from earlier stood in the shadow of the hallway.

"Jason," I said, nodding to him. He emerged from the shadows and dropped his face mask.

"Hey Sky, how's it going," he asked smiling. That perfect smile that he has. He stood a good 4 inches taller than me. A wiry but muscular frame showed beneath his simple t-shirt. Lab coat and sweat pants covered the rest of his body. Running his hand through his wavy brown hair he glanced down my body making me shiver. "Still wearing those antiques I see," referring to the ultra-light metal gauntlets, housing my assortment of weapons and tools.

"It may seem antique to use blades," I said as I engaged the mechanism in the gauntlet, springing the blades out and upwards. "They are however silent and stealthy, and my set up isn't exactly antique," I argued crossing my arms over my chest, the blades retracting into their housings as I folded my arms. The computer tech and holographic interface lit up and danced shadows across my face. Jason's eyes dropped from my face to my chest level and never left.

"Yeah well, I think you play too much Assassins Creed," he tore his gaze away and brought it to my glare. Chuckling he walked away farther into the building.

"Come on Sky, there are things to be done." A minute of silence elapsed as we traversed deeper into the facility.

"So..." He began. "Insistent on being a Psi are we?" Jason turned down a hallway void of any other personnel.

"I know I am," I said smartly. I noticed the increasing lack of security in this section of the building. We stopped at the end of the hallway waiting for the elevator.

"Yeah and how's that," he asked pausing at an elevator door, holding the door open, letting me pass in side. I shrugged and remained silent. After what seemed like hours the elevator reached the desired floor. Jason led me to another door; I noticed the complete lack of cameras on this floor.

The room we entered was a sterile white lab, unmarked and occupied by an operating table, a Psi scanner and a two way mirror. I extended my mind beyond the room, scanning for emotions and thoughts. We were alone, no one on this floor at all.

"What if you're not Psionic? What if you're not even capable of handling implants?"

"Oh, I know I can handle them," I told him.

Objects around the room began to clatter, shaking and rising into the air. They were defying gravity, floating of their own accord. The Psi scanner began to tick, rising in intensity as the power in the room grew.

Jason turned around from closing the door, staring jaw dropped.

"Just a feeling," I said, and innocent look on my face. The objects around the room plummeted to the ground clanking and rattling as they settled.

"Wha...what... Impossible!" He stammered.

"Improbable," I curtly responded back. Smiling at his slack jawed expression, I jumped onto the table with extreme enthusiasm. "Come on, you have a Psi implant to install."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh no, please tell me you're not going down to the filthy back alley clinic," I asked. Sky had a knack for getting into trouble. That clinic was a black market hub, in which all manner of illegal wares and implants were being sold at cheap prices. Nobody had yet to taken down the crime lord in the area.

Scoffing Sky's voice echoed through the earpiece, "Please Amelia, I'm way past that. I have a way into the VPT." _How in the hell? That's a very serious claim._

"What! That's one of the most advance high tech Psi-labs in the country!" _No way is she telling the truth, but... Why would she lie? _I jumped from the lower edge, gripping the balcony edge, hauling myself up and over the rooftop edge. I began my sprint running to edge of the building, the gap was too far to make. I reached the edge and leapt, several air cars passed underneath as I hurdled toward the other skyscraper.

"Like I said, I have my ways," she said. I sighed mentally, grunting as I gripped the small decorative outcropping on the side of the building. Scaling to the top of the building I responded, "Well don't let Jason catch wind of this, he'd kill us both." That's the last thing I need, is Jason questioning my life, and using his ridiculously high government clearance to look me up.

"Will do," Sky said. Ending the call I began setting up my rifle. Knowing Jason, he'd be the one to get Sky a contact in the VPT. He's had a crush on that girl since he was 12. Since he was working in the building itself, and he was considered a medicinal genius by most, he could probably get away with all sorts of trouble.


	2. Chapter 2: Purity First

**So this is my first real attempt at a fanfiction, so reviews and criticizing is welcome, positive or negative. I plan to posts new chapters every Friday but Easter and family dinners got in the way this week. I'll post more chapters if I get them done in time**.

Chapter 2: Purity First

"Neural hub with V.I. Assisted Computing Functions, Retina Enhanced Heads Up Display (REHUD), Cybernetic Augment Arms and Legs, Icarus Landing System, God damn." Jason exclaimed.

"You've got everything short of wings strapped to your back." He continued pacing back and forth across the medical lab. He would occasionally stop to read some data from the data pad he had in his hands.

"Jason, you're wearing a hole in the floor," I said.

He stopped passing and glanced up at me, staring at me for a few moments without saying anything. A beep from his data pad brought his attention back to the machine. Sighing mentally, I looked around the room. Jason hasn't brought much in, just a few data pads and a laptop, as well as a few different pieces of scanning equipment.

I raised a hand to the back of my head, feeling the small shaven part where a Psi Neural Implant now resided near the base of my skull. A flashing on my wrist computer drew my attention. I activated my sub-vocal implant and accepted the incoming call.

"Sky, I'm detecting a large number of armed men entering and sealing off exits throughout the building. Through observation of radio chatter, I've determined that this is the terrorist group opposed to psionic modification and augmentations, Purity." Rebecca said.

"How did they get past security?"

"Unknown, the guards are still at their post, and don't seem alerted. It's possible a bribe or a benefactor higher up allowed them access.

"What's their objective," I asked. Glancing up at Jason, he still paced back and forth. Unaware of what was transpiring on the bottom levels.

"I'm not a 100% certain, but it seems their objective is to eliminate all data and equipment as well as personnel."

An alarm began to sound, the room shifted to an eerie red color as the emergency lights flashed. Jason jumped, startled from the sudden noise. He moved over to the laptop he had brought with him and began accessing security logs and cameras.

"Keep me updated Rebecca," I hopped of the table and grabbed Jason, "Come on, time to go."

"Sky, what's going on?"

"Purity," Was all I said before dashing out the door.

"Oh," he whispered, before trailing after me.

We sprinted down the hallway heading for the stairs; flinging open the door I began my descent when I spotted the first terrorist. The man was heavily armed, he raised his gun. I flung my hand outwards, fanning my fingers as the psionic force left my body. The man flew from where he stood, crashing into the wall with tremendous force. A wet sickening crack echoed through the hallway as he slumped to the ground.

"That was a bit excessive don't you think," Jason said with eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I just meant to push him down the stairs, not…" I said gesturing the broken corpse on the ground.

"Come on, we have to keep moving," I dragged him down the stairs. We rushed down the stairs, gunshots and explosion sounded in the distance. The alarm stopped suddenly, the silence deafening. Several floors below, men began pouring into the empty stairwell. Rushing up the stairs they began fanning out into every door along the stairwell. One of them looked up and spotted me glancing down

"Up there," I heard one yell. I pulled back and began running back up the stairs.

"Not that way," I said.

"I have an air car on the roof, we can make it if we hurry," Jason gestured upwards and began sprinting up the steps three at a time. I matched his speed as we dashed up the stairs, and we reached the top floor before the roof. Slamming through the door we were confronted by several armed men. They immediately opened fire and the bullets tore across the hallway. I threw up a barrier of psionic energy and the bullets slammed into it. The bullets pounding on the shield took a physical hit on me; each bullet that hit fell like a dull punch to my body.

The bullets were melting into slag from the almost instantaneous de-acceleration that the barrier caused. Hundreds of rounds hung suspended in just mere seconds. A sharp pain ripped through my shoulder, my shirt instantly soaked in blood. The round passed clean through my shoulder. Another round slipped through the barrier and impacted near my foot. I gathered energy from my core and screamed as I sent the energy outwards toward the terrorists. The melted slag ripped up the hallway like a shotgun blast, hundreds if not thousands of bullets peppered the men at the end of the hall. Their combat armor doing nothing to stop the bullets, tearing straight through like it was made of paper. A few men managed to take cover behind walls and doors before they were blasted to shreds.

I staggered after the blast, and Jason caught me. Wrapping my arm over his shoulder he dragged me towards the roof access door. He opened the door, by placing his hand on a palm scanner, a set of stairs reached upwards to a door labelled EXIT.

Just as we reached the flight before the rooftop, the entire stairwell exploded. Debris and junks of cement flew everywhere and rained down on us. Jason was knocked unconscious, no doubt from the blast and falling debris. A sharp intense pain tore through my side. I screamed at the pain, a rebar from a cement block had shot into my side.

I whimpered as I clutched the wound, gripping the bar I tested the pain that would follow. Wincing as I tugged on it I decided fast and clean would be better. Getting a better grip I yanked the rebar from my side. Screaming my throat raw as the pain racked my body, the automatic medical system barley coping. Clutching my side I grabbed Jason and slung him over my shoulder, barley carrying his weight. I staggered up the stairs, ears still ringing from the blast.

Blowing the door of the hinges with Psionic force I stumbled through what was left of the frame. I saw an intact air car parked on the roof, I shuffled in the direction of the car when the culprit of the explosion appeared. A UTA-51 VTOL Assault Fighter, 400 million dollars of top of the line hardware, this operation runs deep. Missiles flew from its underbelly and tore towards the car. Blowing me off my feet, the shockwave threw us both across the rooftop.

The fighter swung left, its engines roaring as it shifted. A mini gun dropped from a hatch under the VTOL. Just as the barrel began to spin the fighter dramatically dropped in altitude, pitching backwards as it fell. Missiles streaked over us and chased the VTOL down the side of the building. Two jets screamed overhead, rattling what was left of the windows. They dove on the other side of the building chasing their missiles.

Jason stirred beside me, and began to come to, just as my vision narrowed and darkness swallowed me.

**And that's the end of chapter 2, I have quite a bit planned for this story and I've been kicking this idea around for a while. The Mass Effect portion of the story will probably start around chapter 4. It will all depend on how much I want to sketch out this world before moving into the well known universe of ME.**


	3. Chapter 3: So We all have secret lives

**Chapter 3: So…We all have secret lives?**

**The name of the landing system was on purpose, it's ironic yes, but it's also a game reference. My friend pestered me to fix a few mistakes and things in the story so here we are.**

The sound of hospital machines woke me from a deep sleep, soft whispers and loud murmurs. My eyes opened to pure brightness, I instantly shielded my eyes with my hands.

Turning down the sensitivity to my REHUD the room took shape. I then realized my stupid mistake; the sensitivity had been set to 100%. I felt my cheeks redden as I saw the audience in the room. Several doctors were in the room, most were attending to Jason who was in the bed next to mine. Bandages wrapped around his head, slightly blood soaked. Small cuts, scratches, bruises and burns covered his body. Amelia, I realized was glaring at me, she held a glare that could rival Medusa.

She said something that I couldn't hear, a soft whisper among the incredible noise.

Activating my sub vocal implant "Rebecca, reset default settings." the sound dropped back down to acceptable levels.

"Who's Rebecca," Amelia asked. I narrowed my eyes at Amelia, confused by her sudden question.

"What?" My voice croaked out.

"You just told Rebecca to reset default settings, who's Rebecca?"

_Crap, I thought I had my sub vocal implant active._

"Uhh...she's my V.I." I then noticed the lack of clothing, the only thing I wore was a simple hospital gown. I glanced around the room and noticed that my clothing and equipment sat neatly piled in the corner of the room. Anything that could hold a simple V.I. sat on the opposite side of the room.

"But..." she said, clearly confused as to wear this V.I. would be.

Sighing I told her, "Rebecca is in here I said tapping the back of my head."

She frowned and then raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You have a V.I. in your head?" Gasping she realized, "You're an Aug?"

"Yes Amelia, I'm augmented." I began unplugging the numerous cables and tubes connected to my body, the sensors and the monitoring equipment. A doctor came over and started fussing over me, ruining his hard work. I gave him a glare rivaling Amelia's, he stopped suddenly, I'm sure fully aware of my capabilities.

"Sky what are you doing, those machines are healing you." Amelia came to the side of the bed. I pulled out the needles dripping IV, and protein into my body. Amelia eyes watched in amazement as the needle holes quickly healed and disappeared completely.

"What? How?" Amelia asked, even the doctor looked slightly surprised.

"I have faster regeneration than the average person. Plus along with the nanites in my blood, I heal pretty quickly," I sat up from the bed, swinging my legs over the side. I sharp twinge in my side, caused me to grab my side.

"Evidently, not that quickly," I said. Willing the nanites to focus on the wound on my side, they went to work. The bullet hole in my shoulder had mostly healed and was covered in a medical gel so I instructed them to leave that alone for now. I felt the side wound closing as we continued the conversation.

"Oh Sky, what kind of trouble of you gotten yourself into," Amelia muttered under her breath.

"Purity," I responded, the reaction was immediate. Her head snapped up as did the doctor's, they both stared at me.

"Purity!" she cried out. "That fucking terrorist group that we've been after for 6 months? God, what the fuck Sky!" Her words hammered at me, I had never seen Amelia this angry. The doctors wisely slipped away silently during the middle of Amelia's yelling.

"What the hell were you thinking? What the hell am I saying; of course you'd get into this kind of shit!"

"Amelia!" I yelled back. She looked startled from my outburst.

"Calm down, I can take care of myself. What did you mean the terrorist group that you've been after?"

She immediately averted her eyes, walking over to her chair, "Nothing, it doesn't matter."

I glared at her again, "Bullshit, spill it."

"No."

"Amelia."

"No."

I softened my voice, "Amelia, you can tell me."

She was shaking, crying from exhaustion and worry.

"I'm sorry Sky, I can't tell you." Right then and there I was so tempted, to invade her privacy, to read her mind and find out what she was hiding. I booted up the Psionic implant, thousands of minds hummed around me, so much information and thoughts. I narrowed the field to the minds in the room. It was eerily silent, I extended my mind outwards to Amelia and Jason. My probe slipped around their minds, _a__ shield! Where the hell does an elementary school teacher g__et a shield?_

Jason's mind had a shield as well, but that's not a surprise, given where he works. Or rather where he did work.

"Amelia, what happened to the VPT?" she looked up, her eyes puffy from the tears.

"Rubble, the entire building was destroyed, several square blocks. Billions in damages and thousands of causalities. It was worse than the damn world trade center collapse back in 2001."

"How did we get out?"

"Jason, paranoid or cautious, had his personal car parked a block away. Called it over and he brought you guys here, the military rolled in and tried evacuating the building. That's when it came down; strategic detonations around the base of the building collapsed it in on itself." She shook her head, "Still, a kilometer tall building collapsing throws out a lot of debris and dust."

"God damn," I stood up and walked over to my clothing, my skintight combat skin sat underneath my clothes. I began slipping it on under the hospital gown, the skin stitching itself together in solid threads up my back as I put it on. I tore off the hospital gown as the suit finished meshing at the base of my neck.

Amelia stared at me, as I begin reassembling my equipment, attaching it to my second skin. I reattached my gauntlets and tested the blades and computer systems. I noticed her still staring at me, "What?" I asked.

"What...are...you wearing?" I glanced down at the combat skin, the tight fitting suit accenting all of my curves.

"What," I said smugly. Turning to better protrude my chest, "You don't like it?"

Scoffing she replied, "Just be glad Jason's not awake, he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off you."

I chuckled at that, she then continued "You're not really a server at Hollow Earth are you?"

"You think," I responded back.

I took a utility belt and snapped it around my waist, tilted in an X shape across my legs and hips. I grabbed the 10mm I kept magnetize to the belt and quickly disassembled and then just as quickly reassembled the gun. Checking the clip I slapped it to the side of the suit. I then stopped what I was doing and stared at the gun at my hip.

"What is it Sky?"

"I'm an idiot, I had a gun and didn't use it," Amelia had this amused look on her face.

Shaking my head I continued to grab my gear, my second 10mm to my other hip and several clips into a laptop bag. I opened my laptop and groaned as I saw the screen, the screen was completely shattered.

"Rebecca, did the data back up?"

"100% recovered, the data has been sent to your hard drive in your apartment."

Grabbing my jeans I pulled them over the combat skin. Throwing a white V-neck and my hoodie over top of my upper half, I examined my clothes. Still caked with dry blood, they were completely ruined. The combat skin retracted in a hexagon tiling pattern back to my shoulders and dropping from my neck. Layering thicker over my wounds to further protect them, I took on the appearance once again of a normal 17 year old girl.

I rubbed at the spot where the neural hub sat above the psionic implant, the slight spot where my hair didn't cover. I shook my head scattering my hair before flipping over my shoulders and running my hand through it.

"I thought your hair was blonde Sky," Amelia said suddenly.

I noticed that Jason had begun to stir, eyes fluttering as he came too. I turned and faced her, "It was I had dyed it. I do that every couple of months. I like this chocolate brown color thought, it's close to my natural color."

"Girls..." Jason groaned. Amelia immediate rushed to his side, embracing him as he complained.

I smiled at that, Jason noticed her still red eyes and spoke. "Have you been crying dear sister." he said in a semi amused brotherly tone.

"Never for you," she said as she slugged him lightly on shoulder.

They started talking about what happened, basically a repeat of what we talked about; of course Jason got off easier with the yelling and lectures.

"Amelia," she glanced up. I waved her over as I walked to the doorway.

"I've got to go to my apartment, and grab some stuff, you can meet me there if Jason's able or I can come back here."

"What's the hurry Sky?"

"Purity was after any and all data, equipment and personal. Jason had just installed an X6 psionic implant and is one of the top medical personal at the VPT. Do you really think they're done, hunting down anyone that made it away? They've done it before and there's no reason for them to stop now." I handed her one of the 10mm and opened the door, pausing before saying. "I have a feeling you already know how to use one of those."

She nodded and I left into the hall, walking quickly to the elevators. Making it out onto the street I called a cab, taking the air car to my apartment would only take a few minutes.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sky left and I immediately locked the door and set up my laptop.

"Amelia, what's really going on with Sky," Jason asked. I shook my head trying to focus on the screen. I loaded up the agency program and logged in, news and strategic information streamed in to the laptop. Jason got out of the hospital bed and grabbed his clothes, slipping on boxers and jeans, he undid the hospital gown. I got my first real look at the damage to his body. Dozens of bruises and scratches all over his chest stomach and back. Varying degrees of burns covered his chest and neck. He pulled on a t-shirt and sat down on the bed.

Requesting an agency team to cover the building, I accessed the information file on Sky. I brought up her file and was surprised at what I saw, most of the file was mundane and unimportant, but what caught my eye was the fact that the lower area of her file was grayed out. Large red letters spelled out CLASSIFIED diagonally across the file.

I sent my access codes through the system which gave me considerable clearance into most government files. The codes processed and denied me access, a Section 3 symbol popped on screen. Section 3 was a highly classified black ops research section of the government.

Gunshots rang out from the lower levels, I instantly grabbed the pistol that Sky gave me and handed it Jason. Taking my own side arm from its case I rose from my seat. Jason fumbled with the gun, thumbing a round into the chamber. I opened the door and moved to the corner of the hall, kneeling I aimed my pistol down the hall. The first man appeared at the top of the stairs and charged down the hall. A sharp crack from the pistol and the bullet neatly drilled a hole in his head. His head snapped back and he hit the floor with a thud. Several more men came up the hallway and suffered the same fate. Several gunshots from the doorway snapped off and caught my attention, several bodies hit the floor and I realized Jason had killed them.

He shook from the kills he had just made and ducked back into cover when the bullets started flying. I leaned out once again and saw a single man walking down the hall. I sent off a shot aimed right at his head, the bullet stopped just centimeters from his forehead. I shot off several more rounds and watched as they too stopped in midair. Purity First was working with a Psi.

**So yeah, end of chapte****r 3. This chapter was a little slow I know, except maybe near then ending. Tell me what you think of the length of the chapter and if you prefer this size of chapters. As always there are a few game references in this chapters as well as a TV show****.**


	4. Chapter 4: On the Run

**Sorry about the long wait, I just could get this chapter to sound right, I changed it so many times that I moved on to different chapters and other stories, but finally settled on this version. Enough talking, on to the story.**

**P.S. Xxxxxx is a change in POV**

Chapter 4: On the Run

**Sky: Vancouver General Hospital, Exterior**

I emerged from the hospital after being discharged; I spotted my ride as I approached the edge of the sidewalk. The air car descended to ground level, engines whining as it lowered. The car door opened with a swish as it touched down to reveal the unmanned vehicle. I climbed in the vehicle and began the startup sequence.

"Ellwood Apartments, second level," I said. The cab rose into the air and darted off with an audible hum. Merging into the stream of air cars heading in the same direction, the car flew through the city. Buildings passing by silently, lighting up as the sun set. Golden lances licked through the cab window as the last rays of sunlight grabbed at the landscape.

The car zipped in between towering skyscrapers and space scrapers, dropping in altitude. The endless sprawl of the city stretched beyond the horizon, evaporating into the distance. Sky buses, air cars, and even a few helicopters flew by the around the car. I watched as the street rapidly approached, people going about their daily lives. The setting sun vanished as the car entered the tunnel to the second level.

Built like many multi-level cities, Vancouver had a rich upper level. Open to the sky and stars, wide open parks and thousands of trees and wildlife. Towering aesthetic buildings, and open aired pavilions create the perfect cityscape. The lower levels were the middle class and slums, dirty, loud, crime ridden. The mid-class like me lived in the higher rise apartments and gated communities, elevated from the poverty stricken ground levels.

The tunnels between levels were short narrow tubes that allowed one air car to pass quickly in either direction. The rusted out tubes were falling apart at the seams, hardly ever maintained and used too often to shut down. Only the main tunnels were maintained with any manner of decency, and they were pretty crappy too. The whole city was falling apart, especially the lower level.

The air car emerged from the tunnel and angled over the city, the shit hole that is level 2 stretched on forever beneath the shadow of the upper city. Space scrapers stretch up far beyond the lower city, the stretched all the way up into roof, and up into level 1 where they continue for several kilometers. Anchored with huge pillars like the upper city is, space scrapers are so tall that the upper levels are pressurized, and often have stabilizers to prevent them from swaying.

The taxi passed by one of the smaller support pillars, heading for the lowest ring surrounding the 200m thick nanotube structure. Fairly ingenious to create more space for people, the gigantic pillars that held up the massive upper city; were cities in themselves. Giant rings surrounded the pillar, one every 100m apart from one another, making 9 rings along the km tall structure. The pillars themselves are mostly solid, the core and 6 surrounding micro cores take the weight of the upper city. Hollow in the space in between the cores, they have lots of supports to prevent the pillars from becoming structurally unsound. Entire communities live within the pillars. With even more people living on the rings connected to the outside of the pillar, the population of Vancouver reaches a staggering 26 million.

_Why do I stay in this place, _I wonder before the taxi started to make its final descent.

Ellwood Apartments is just one of the many apartment blocks on the Gamma Pillar, specifically B-Ring. The loud hustle of any Pillar block could be heard even a 100m away, the constant activity, fights, parties all contributed. Both of the former mentioned were happening as my cab came down to the front of the 3 building set of apartments. Several of my less pleasant neighbors had decided to party in the pavilion that was common in Ring apartments. A small fight had broken out in front of the doors, and had consumed the attention of at least two dozen party goers. I pushed my way through the crowd, avoiding the fight that was clearly escalating. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind that someone would probably end up dead in an alley somewhere.

"Good afternoon Ms. Galloway," the buildings security guard said.

"Hey Frank, sorry can't talk in a hurry," He raised a hairy eyebrow at me as I rushed for the elevator. I scurried past him heading straight for the elevator. I pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive. The agonizing 2 minutes it took just standing there waiting for the stupid elevator to arrive was terrible. I stepped in the elevator and punched the button for the top floor. The elevator jerked into motion and slowly crawled towards my apartment. The elevator finally reached the top floor, the doors opened to greet me with a nicely polished hallway. The higher up in buildings like these, the higher quality place it is.

Sprinting down the hall, I quickly reached my door. It automatically opened, reacting to my presence.

"Welcome home Sky, you have 3 new e-mails, and several missed..."

"Jerry, skip the home routine, download everything to a portable hard drive, and I do mean everything. Hits, schematics, movies, books, email... everything. Get us an escape route; I want a way out of the city."

The A.I. went silent as he went to work, that's when Rebecca spoke up. "You know, for only being 3 days old you are awfully hard on him."

"He's 3 days old yes, but he's also and A.I. 3 days is like 12 years to you guys." I responded as I walked into my bedroom.

"That as it may, you're still pretty tough on him."

I began stripping my old blood stained clothes, revealing the combat skin underneath. Tossing the clothes aside I began shuffling through drawers. I decided on a good pair of jeans, and a white V-neck. I grabbed a pair of fresh running shoes and began to lace them, tying back my hair right after.

"I designed him to be a military grade A.I. I have to push him hard or he won't succeed under combat conditions."

A few stray locks of hair fell in front of my face, cutting my explanation short. I blew them out of my face and looked up at the full mirror that hung on the wall. My eyes glow an eerie gold color, deactivating my HUD, they snapped back to their natural color. Bright blue orbs with flecks of silver stared back at me. A few freckles on my face drew away from eyes, but not much. I stood up and walked over to my weapon cabinet, tightening my holster as I walked over. After entering the code I drew a Desert Eagle from the shelf and replaced it in my holster. I grabbed a Dragonfly, my climbing gear and knife set, as well as a couple grenades. _Everything a girl needs, _I thought briefly.

"Download Complete," Jerry voice emitted from the house. "I've taken the liberty of purchasing 3 tickets on a Vac-Train to Japan, the train leaves at 16:00 hours, Central Station." I walked over to the terminal that housed Jerry's memory, inserting a microchip to remove him. I withdrew the chip and place it into my neural implant. Cold mercury filled the back of my mind, the space being taken up by two other sentient minds.

"Still lots of room in here, even if it's a little more crowded than before," Rebecca said with playfully.

"I'm not sure if I sure resent that or not," I say.

"The statistical likelihood that she meant to insult you is less than 4.2%" Jerry responded crisply.

Rebecca sighed loudly as I chuckled and Jerry's response. I entered the apartment living room and headed to the work bench in the corner. I picked up a crystalline device that was sitting on the bench; I placed the device at the base of my throat, just above my breasts. An energy field pulsed out from my body snapping into a barrier that encircled my entire form. Moving towards the door I took one last look at my apartment, the city nightlife was in full swing. Cars honking, crowds of people and music of all noises, flooded in through the windows. The silence from the rest of the building however, is what caught my attention. There was no music, no yelling, no fights, it was eerily quiet.

Glass shattered as soldiers came crashing into the apartment through the front window. They opened fire as soon as their boots hit the hardwood floors. I dove to the side, rolling behind my kitchen countertops. The wood shredded as the bullets tore the thin structure, pinging off my shield. My apartment was torn apart as the bullets peppered the room. I toppled the fridge and slid behind it, shrinking down farther and farther to avoid the bullets skipping off the fridge.

Quickly leaning out of cover I snapped off several rounds off. Each bullet lead to the demise of one of the soldiers as it drilled a neat hole in the center of their heads. More and more men repelled into the building, these ones wearing sealed helmets. Tossing flash bangs and teargas as they landed, dropping in from the roof. The flash bang went off and blinded me for a moment before my HUD automatically adjusted and polarized, my ears still ringing from the high pitch sound grenade.

Letting off several more rounds, I primed one of the three grenades I had attached to my holster. Whipping the grenade into the center of the room I dashed towards the bullet torn door. Breaking through what was left of the door, I dashed into the hallway. The grenade detonated and blew the walls out of the apartment, sending me flying into the wall. My shields broke and sounded like glass shattering as it failed. I staggered, getting to my feet and running down the hallway. Some of the men survived the grenade and began firing at me as I ran. The rounds sparked at my feet as I sprinted down the L shaped hallway. More men came around the corner and set up a firing line, my shields began to recharge as I gained distance on my pursers.

They unloaded at me as I sent out a shock wave along the hallway, the hallway ripped apart as I ran at the soldiers. I crashed into their line as the shock wave blew them and the wall out. I dove out of the freshly made hole and broke into a free dive. The many soldiers screamed as they plummeted towards the ground, one of them tried to grapple me as we fell. I kicked out in defense, sending the soldier flying into the exterior of the building. Silenced, his body fell away from me, the Icarus Landing System activating at the same moment. The augmentation enveloped me in a massive electromagnetic field, slowing my descent enough that I had hit the ground lightly. I took off running dodging and weaving in and out of cover, dodging behind crumbling walls and parked air cars.

I dashed into an alleyway as a wave of lead tore into the spot I was just moments ago. I ran up onto a dumpster and used it to propel myself over the fence that divided the alley in half. Hitting the ground I rolled to keep my momentum going, springing up and sprinting forward. My cybernetic enhancements pushing me faster and faster, easily reaching 40km/h. Coming up rapidly to the end of the alley I arrived at the edge of the ring, skidding to a stop just in front of the edge. Laser sights lined up on my chest as I spun around to face the soldiers lining up on the rooftop and in the alley. I slowly backed away from the overwhelming amount of firepower, their sight shifted to follow me. I reached the very edge and staggered as I balanced myself, glancing back at the guns pointed at me. I smiled as an idea formed in my head, taking another step back, falling off the edge. I grabbed the last two grenades and whipped them back up to the ring above, the grenades settled on the very edge of the ring.

The grenade rolled off and detonated, just above the supports holding this side of the ring. The supports cracked and began to crush under the weight of the structures above. The supports crumbled and fell, the ring snapping and falling after me. I dropped quickly falling away from the debris, trying to escape the collapsing debris. Not even half way to the ground a massive flash of light caught my eye. The blinding light turned into an ominous blue shock wave. The air scattered before the wave as debris kicked up and knocked me around. The wave enveloped me and cast me into unconsciousness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Amelia: Vancouver General Hospital**

The psi terrorist continued marching down the hall, he had started project a full barrier that encompassed the entire hallway. The other terrorist continued unhindered by the bullets that Jason and I sent down range. The man stopped just short of the end of the hall, the T shaped hall was blocked off from both sides from debris and broken hospital equipment. The remaining Purity members rushed into the various rooms along the hall, loud crashes and shouting could be heard, along with the occasional gun shot and scream.

"Jason, go back into the room and gather up our stuff," the psi holding up the barrier smirked as he overheard us, his face beginning to strain and beads of sweat began to drip down his face.

"But..." I held up a hand to silence him.

"Trust me, just do it," I leaned out of cover and shot off several more rounds at the barrier. The man gritted his teeth, as the barrier was struck. Before sliding back into cover I noticed several men carrying a box sporting the Astro-Physics logo.

They continued to move stuff back and forth before muted radio chatter cause the psi to put a hand to his ear.

"Roger that," he whispered, speaking for the first time.

"Love to stay and chat," he continued, "But I've got places to be, people to kill."

I glared at the man as he slowly retreated down the hall, the other Purity members falling back before him. The man dropped the barrier just moments before disappearing around the corner out of sight. Jason came back out, carrying all of the gear that we had in the room, the pistol tucked in the front of his pants with the safety thumbed on.

"Let's go, no point in sticking around," I say while following the hall that Purity had entrenched themselves in. A lot of the rooms were completely trashed, anyone inside dead. Why leave all this death and destruction if you weren't going to kill us. He probably could of done it very easily, after all he was telekinetic, if the barrier he created was any prove. I thought back to the psi, he was tall, broad shouldered, short cropped jet black hair, definitely military or at least ex-military. A sharp rugged scar had run down his face under his right eye, unshaven and alert. This was a man who had killed and enjoyed killing.

"Amelia, why didn't he kill us?" Jason questioned. I was about to reply when I noticed a cylindrical object in one of the rooms. I stepped inside and noticed the unpacked Astro-Physics crates, the boxes were unsealed and their contents spread about the room. Dozens of explosive compounds lined the room, all wired to the cylinder in the middle. A bright red digital timer was counting down, the timer hit 3 when I realized what it was. I dashed out of the room grabbing Jason as I ran.

"Bomb," I yelled to Jason's unanswered question. The timer hit 2, we poured all of our energy into getting as far away as possible. The timer struck 1, we reached the top of the stairwell when the timer hit Zero. A massive flash of light blasted out and a searing heat scorched our skin. The heat was replaced by a cool liquid feeling as the blast wave turned blue, enveloping us both.


	5. Chapter 5: New World

**Sorry about the irregular schedule, seems to be whenever I am satisfied with the chapters that I upload them.**

Chapter 5: New World

**Unknown Location: Sky**

My eyes fluttered open to a surprising well lit alley, garbage was lightly strewn about the hard metallic ground. I shifted knocking garbage off me, no one was around but there were definitely people nearby. Busy street sounds echoed from a short distance away, strange, yet unfamiliar at the same time. My eyes snapped close as I got to my knees, a sharp pain pulled at my side. I collapsed to the ground panting from the searing pain. I glanced at my arms, holding them out in front of me and examining them.

Dozens of cuts and bruises covered my arms, ranging from tiny scrapes to several inch gashes. My gauntlets were also pretty scratched up but nothing too damaging, I had all of my equipment even. Now that I was awake the cuts all over my body began to heal. Very slowly at first but then hey began to disappear. The smallest first, then the bruises and the larger cuts began to seal. The gash on my side began to knit itself back together, my natural healing combined with the Nanites was pushing the healing a lot faster than your average human. A beep from my gauntlet caught my attention, the holo-interface appeared and began projecting. _Insufficient Organic Material, Nanites ope__rating at 7% efficiency, A.I. Rebecca offline, A.I. Jerry offline, Wrist Blades offline, Dragonfly offline, Icarus offline, Vertical Ascent Gear offline, REHUD offline, Psionic Neural Implant offline, cybernetics at 3% capacity. _I dropped my head onto my arms, groaning as my head struck the metal gauntlet.

I stood up from the ground, glancing around the alley, surprising clean even for an alley. Other than the garbage there wasn't much else much else to wrong with the alley. Gripping my side I began to move towards the edge of the alley, that's when I ran into my first alien. Tall, humanoid, 4 eyes, ugly as a fuck, yeah that's right a Batarian, I must be imagining things. I glanced up at the alien, a predatory grin spread across his face as another Batarian entered the small alley. He glanced at his buddy and took a step towards me, involuntarily I took a stumblingly step back.

They had a look of almost glee shine in each set of eyes as they moved towards me. The one closest reached out an arm and grabbed me, his meaty hand wrapped around my arm and tightened like a vice. The other one stood back farther, head on a swivel watching beyond the alley. The Batarian that grabbed my arm pulled me into the wall and slammed me against it. His other hand dropped to his waist and began to undo his buckle. Being the species he was and knowing exactly what he planned, I swung out with my unhindered arm as hard as I could. My arm impacted the side of the Batarian's head and he tumbled away. His face contorted in shock at the fact that a human, a small female human had hit him so hard.

He reached up to the side of his head and brought away a sticky dark substance. A glance at my curled fist showed the same substance, I brought my other arm up and shifted into a fighting stance. These bastards wouldn't get the jump on me again, not this time. Both Batarians drew viscous looking knifes from hidden spots on their body. They both charged at me, knives swinging. I ducked under the first swing and elbowed the wielder in the face sending him flying into a pile of trash.

I caught the second Batarian's arm as he brought the knife down in a sharp arc. I struggled against his strength, barely coping in my weakened state. I kicked at his knee, dislocating it with a loud pop. Losing his balance and his momentum, I twisted his arm to its breaking point. A loud crack caused him to yelp in pain and drop the knife. The other Batarian had recovered from his little collision with the wall and staggered towards me. He dove towards me, arm and knife extended. Pushing the Batarian I had held, I sent him tumbling into the legs of the charging Batarian. They crashed together tumbling to the ground, they rolled around in pain until they both passed unconscious

I stood there panting slightly, the gash on my side almost completely healed. Everything that just happened, happened in less than a minute. I stared at the Batarians that lay on the ground in front of me, Batarians of all things._ Could that mean... No, no way, that's not possible. The bomb! A whi__te flash, then a blue shock wave, a slip space rupture. No, no, no, no no, no. That tech is experimental at best, only a few companies have that kind of tec... Astro Physics._

My eyes widened in realization, my mind flashed back to the day that the VPT was destroyed. Just hours before I saw them unloading something into the building, but why would they work with Purity. I sharp guttural bark broke me from my musings, a Turian stood there with his gun out and aimed towards me. I started to panic when the gun lined up against my chest, my mind calmed when I noticed the blue armor and the C-Sec badge.

I raise my hands in the air, the C-sec officer leaned down and began scanning the Batarians with his omni-tool. He seemed satisfied and put his gun away, he look at me and bark in his language and motioned to follow him. I frowned not understanding what he said but getting the gist of it. I followed him to an air-car that I assumed was a patrol car, another officer was waiting there, an Asari. I froze as I saw the Asari, the game never did them justice, same for the Turians or the Batarians even. The Asari was beyond beautiful, even if she didn't have hair, the Turian was rigid and sharp, the eyes, the cowl, the face tattoos everything about them was more vivid than the two decade old game.

The Asari said something in a melodic voice, soft and floating, the Turian responded back in his sharp tongue and the Asari scowled. She spoke something to me and I raised an eyebrow, no idea what she said. An idea formed in my head, I reached up to my right ear and frowned.

"My translators gone, I don't know what you're saying." The Turian rolled his eyes and headed back to the alley, he poked the Batarians sprawled about on the alley floor. I turned back around to the Asari holding a small wireless ear bud; she fiddled with something before handing it to me. I placed it in my ear and she spoke.

"Can you understand me now," she asked, the translator changed the language in real time. I couldn't even hear her speaking in her natural language with my other ear.

"Yes thank you, umm... what's going to happen," I glanced nervously back at the Turian hauling the semi-conscious Batarians to their feet.

She waved her hand dismissively and motioned towards the Batarians and her Turian partner. He marched them past us and into the car, roughly shoving them into the cut off rear section of the air-car.

"We saw the whole thing, Batarians are always bad but they especially hate humans after the Skyllian Blitz. You alright?" _Skyllian Blitz, damn when was, __w__hat, 10, 15 years after humans met the Turians?_

"Nerena, I'm heading back to HQ, are you going to stay here with the girl," The Turian asked.

She nodded and waved him off; the car took off accelerating off towards the Presidium Ring. She looked back at me and casually leaned on the rail running the length of the level. I just noticed the activity around me, the silence was there before but was now replaced with activity has people went about their business. Hundreds of aliens walked by, Turians, Asari and Salarians mostly, they occasional Elcor, Volus, Krogran and even Hanar. Surprising a fair number of humans walked among the crowd, about a fifth of the individuals were humans.

"I'm okay, I can handle myself," I said turning to her, answering her question. She let out a smile and turned to observe the passing crowd.

"I can see that, normally we'd have a report filed up on this right away, but I wasn't sure that I should leave you alone after this incident," she smiled genuinely and brought up her Omni-tool. She began typing and brought up a program.

"I'm just going to run a facial scan and you can fill out a report," before I could protest she started scanning me with her Omni-tool. The scan completed and it started running it through the Citadel Archives. Her Omni-tool beeped a moment later and displayed no results; she frowned and ran the search again. _Great, I don't exist, how am I going to explain this one._

Just as I was about to open my mouth to form some sort of excuse, Nerena interrupted me.

"Ah here we go, Sky Galloway, born January 5th 2161 Earth Calendar, lived in Vancouver for most of your life before moving out to the Citadel, No criminal record, nothing wrong here. I'll just file this and you can be off." she finished typing on her Omni-tool and looked up at me.

"Umm thanks..."

"Not a problem, are you sure you'll be alright?" I nodded

"Alright, here just contact me if you run into any more problems, I'll be in the neighborhood," she swiped a finger towards me on her Omni-tool and my wrist computer, now dubbed Omni-tool for simplicity sake, glowed blue in response. Contact information for one Nerena T'Syria appeared, I hit accept and looked back at her.

"Thanks again," I told her. She bowed in a very formal manner despite wearing just an officer's uniform. She began to walk away, blending into the crowds until she disappeared. I sighed heavily, thinking about what just happened, how I had a file in the Citadel Archives, and how I was somehow 150 years later than I really was supposed to be.

She seemed nice enough," I jumped at the sudden voice and whipped around to see no one. A heavy sighed filled my ears.

"You think after having me in your head for 2 years you would be used to this by now," Rebecca said.

"Don't scare me like that," I hissed under my breath. I started walking in a random direction, taking in the sights and sounds of the Wards.

"Sorry, I just rebooted and couldn't help but overhear, I'm going idle until I can fix some of these EMP damages and properly set up your file." I raised an eyebrow to the unseen A.I. and kept walking. This was not unlike any major city, more like New York City than Vancouver but it was a familiar feeling. The only real difference was the obsessive amount of holographic signs and the aliens can't forget that little fact. After wandering around in aimless directions I decided to actually head somewhere, I needed money and that's something I didn't have. I spotted a sign that advertised antique weaponry; I glanced down at the harness holding my two Desert Eagles. Until I got my cybernetics fixed I probably couldn't handle the recoil on those guns. I shrugged to myself and entered the store.

A man stood behind the counter top, polishing what I assumed was a modern day rifle, _well modern in this time frame. _He glanced up when I walked into the store and raised an eyebrow; he set the gun down and gave me his attention.

"What can I help you with Miss," he asked in a thick accent. I walked up to the counter top and looked into the glass display case. Guns from all eras sat within the case, most I recognized but not all.

"I'm looking to sell something of mine and possibly make some profit," I removed each of the Deagles from the holster and set them down on the counter top.

His eyes practically bulged out of his head; he slowly picked up the gun and spun it in his hands. He whispered to himself without taking his eyes off the guns. He looked down the barrel of the gun and closed one eye.

"Careful," I said. "It's loaded." His eyebrows rose in surprise, he slowly hit the release for the clip and looked at the bullets in the magazine.

"How much," he asked setting the gun and mag down.

"Umm, I don't know, I didn't really have a price in mind," _I have no idea how much these are worth, I should of found out before coming in. Oh well no harm in turning him down, how mu__ch is a credit worth I wonder._

"I'll give you a million credits," he said with a dead serious expression.

I scoffed in surprise, "What?"

"No, no your right, not nearly enough, I'll give you 1.5 million apiece and fifty thousand for each bullet.

My jaw practically hit the floor, I don't know the ratio into dollars but I'm pretty sure you would never get this much combined in all 3 games, and that's without spending anything.

"You got yourself a deal, um Mr..."

"Cameron, but please call me Mitch" he activated his Omni-tool and sent the credits my way. I stared in amazement at my newly created account credits rising through the roof. The credits didn't seem to stop, but eventually they capped out at 5 million credits.

_Well that's certainly a good start, shouldn't have a problem finding a place to live, __or getting started. What am I going to do, am I too join Commander Shepard and follow through the games? Could I make things better or even worse? _My stomach growled loudly and I smiled, _been a while since I had a good meal, __maybe I should think about this after I've had time to come to term with it._

"Any place nearby that's got good food," I asked the weapon's collector. He thought about it for a moment and then replied.

"There's an Asari restaurant nearby that's got some pretty good seafood, as well as the vendors all along the streets are pretty good."

"Thanks," I waved goodbye and moved back out onto the street, I spent the next few hours exploring the wards. Trying food, talking to people, learning about the daily life on the Citadel. Just as the artificial night began I spotted a tall building that was advertising apartments for rent. I entered the building and spotted a Salarian standing behind the desk. His eyes darted up and immediately sized me up, he took in everything about me as fast as I did him.

"How can I help," he asked.

"I saw that your renting apartments, I would like one," I said striding up to the desk where he stood.

He blinked and spoke with hesitation, "Excellent, have many different size apartments, some more well suited to others, take lab for example in top level apartment."

That peaked my interest, my inner scientist and engineer longed to learn the tech of this world.

"What are the specs?" I questioned.

"For the top level apartment? 2200 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, kitchen, living room, office, lounge and so on, 3200 square feet with laboratory," he rattled off in the typical fast pace speech of his kind.

"Probable that is out of your price range however," I chuckled internally at his assumption, during my wandering through Zakera Ward, as I learned it was called, a credit is worth about the same as a Canadian dollar. So in essence I had 5 million dollars to spend however I pleased.

"How much," I asked without emotion.

"2500 credits a month," I decided to quickly do the math in my head, 5 million credits divided by 2500 credits per month was 2000 months which is approximately 166 human years. Again, not a problem.

"Not a problem," I said, waving over the first month of payment, as well as my information straight away. He looked completely surprised, but quickly regained his composition.

"Right this way Ms. Galloway," we entered the elevator that was just off to the side of the front desk. Unfortunately the elevators are in fact painfully slow, like it took us 5 minutes to go 100 floors to the top. When we finally arrived my mind was to say mildly blown, the apartment was penthouse sized, even my super expensive apartment back in Vancouver wasn't this big. The penthouse was 3 floors high, starting on the main floor it stretched to giant glass walls that went to the roof.

Coming out of the elevator I immediately noticed the fire place that sat nestled in the room, and the large waterfall flowing from the second floor, down the wall and underneath the floor. Continuing to flow underneath glass panels over a small area of the 1st floor, it was very Sur'kesh. A large TV hung above the fireplace and dominated the center wall. Off to the right was an enormous kitchen with what I assume is top of the line appliances. Beyond that a lounge and bar area. An opened air staircase led the a second level balcony area that looked over the lower level.

Selak Jorern, the Salarian who owned the building and my wonderful tour guide, led me through the second level, master bedroom with full bath, and a hot tub, 2 other complete bedrooms, more lounge space, an office area, and an exercise room with a pool. The final level was the lab, that got me excited. The lab was empty for the most part, but it had a clean room, a blast room, weapons bench and armor machines.

"And this is the lab, a little empty right now put I'm sure you can find a use for it. I can order equipment and furniture for you, don't hesitate to ask," he said. I just nodded and followed him back downstairs, he paused at the elevator, I glanced at it and asked.

"How do I prevent people from just riding the elevator straight up to my apartment,"

"Easy, elevator will only ascend to the top floor when authorized personal is present, I and now you are the only ones allowed up."

"Also, private elevator at back, don't have to wait for this slow thing," he said kicking the elevator wall lightly. I chuckled and yawned, waving good bye to the Salarian I headed for the stairs. Maybe he'd let me work on the elevator, make it faster. I explored the apartment again, taking a quick stop in the lab to remove the equipment I could. Trudging back downstairs to the second level I went into my new bedroom and flopped onto the bed, promptly falling asleep.

**Citadel, Zakera Ward Day 2 Sky's Apartment: Sky**

I awoke to sunlight streaming in from the windows, air cars zoomed by at break-neck speeds and star ships cruised by silently in the void. Stretching I stood and moved to the window, taking in the view. Silently I stood for several minutes until a voice interrupted

"Good morning Sky," a synthetic voice emulated from the apartment sound systems.

"Morning Rebecca," I said to the unseen A.I. Moving downstairs I entered the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards I found nothing. Fridge was also empty of anything edible.

"Rebecca, how is that file of mine going, and is Jerry online," I asked. Moving to the lounge area I jumped on to the couch.

"Jerry is currently offline and I am unable to bring him back up, it seems that his programming was damage in the explosion and needs to be replaced before he can be fully operational again. Regarding your file, I finished it last night while you were asleep."

"Hmm, alright. Send the file to my omni-tool and I'll have a look over it at breakfast," glancing down at my still my dirty torn up clothes I frowned. _Maybe I'll go shopping first, get some new clothes, some food and find lab equipment. Sounds like a plan._

"Rebecca, I'm headed out, you've got the house."

"Only 0.1% of my processing is devoted to maintaining this household," she responded, with mock hurt. Like I had actually just insulted her by saying she couldn't be in more than one place at once. Rolling my eyes I headed for the private elevator towards the back of the apartment.

"Alright lets go explore the Citadel."

**See if you can find the TV show reference in this chapter, if not you're missing out on a great show.**

**Onto creating chapter 6**


	6. Chapter 6: New Ideas

Chapter 6: New Ideas

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 2: 10 A.M.**

**Cora's: Sky**

Placing my fork down I let out a satisfied sigh, I hadn't had food that could in a while. Last night's selection of food from vendors was the exception. But even that food didn't compare to fresh pancakes and fresh fruit. I continued to look at the data pad I had set up my file upon, the information scrolling down the pad. Most of the information was genuine, if not altered slightly, like my birthday. My education and training were included as well, although my training was slightly more formal in this universe. Alliance SpecOps, that's something I never, thought I'd see. 2nd Lieutenant Sky Galloway, effective March 1st 2183, 3 years from now.

"So this is your plan for getting me onto the Normandy," I asked Rebecca, several people stared at me seemingly talking to myself.

"Based on your assessment of the games, assuming in this universe that it follows that knowledge, your skills will be best suited on the Normandy," she echoed back in my ear.

Activating my Sub-vocal implant I continued the conversation with Rebecca, "If you say so, I might be able to make events turn out even better than in the game, or even worse, I'll have to be careful how I plan this,"

"What is your plan exactly then," she responded.

"Well, I've had a look at some of the tech that's in this universe and while it's better for the most part than what we had, but it's not as efficient. Take mass effect cores for examples, they make ships that can stay flying during atmospheric reentry buy lightening in the ship. By adding one Mk IV Deuterium reactor you'd have more than enough of power to drop a cruiser into atmosphere.

"Hmmm, your estimates are indeed correct, you plan on designing a spaceship Sky," she asked humorously. I brought up the restaurant application on my Omni-tool and paid for my meal. Leaving the restaurant I thought about what she had said. My own spaceship, hmmm, not a bad idea. 3 years isn't really a lot of time to build a ship capable of any significant amount of fighting. I mulled a couple designs over in my head and wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I collided with someone and was sent sprawling to the floor, a series of cures left my mouth as I hit the ground.

I looked up to see a female Quarian, getting up herself. Her dark black suit was entwined with brighter shades of blue and white, her environmental mask was the normal opaque color, her was blue and had a pair of silver orbs glowing behind it. Several other passing aliens, some humans to my disgust, were yelling and cursing at the Quarian girl. Suit-rat and thief were among the dominant slurs directed to her. I sat up and walked over to her, offering her my hand as she looked up at me. Nervously she looked me over and spoke.

"Keelah, I'm so sorry, I was in a hurry, and I wasn't watching where I was going and and and..." she stuttered, I smiled and raised a hand and stopping her mid stutter.

"Relax, partially my fault too," she seemed to relax a little at that and glanced nervously around her. I raised an eyebrow at her and she caught on that I noticed this.

"I'm just a little nervous is all, Zakera Ward isn't the most hospital ward for Quarians," she began wringing her hands nervously. I chuckled internally at the action that was so like Tali, my brain suddenly made a connection.

"What's your name," I asked her.

She hesitated a moment before responding, "Aeola'Zorha nar Rayya."

My mind went into overdrive, Zorha, as in Tali'Zorah. Does that mean Tali has a sister, or does she not even exist, hmm if that's the case how will we get that info on Saren, dammit, I forgot about Saren. I motioned for her to follow me off to a more out of the way that wasn't filled with racist aliens and humans alike. She complied and were moved to area slightly less traveled than the main street we had been on.

"You wouldn't happen to be the esteemed daughter of one Admiral Rael'Zorah, would you," I asked her in an innocent voice. She stood there with mouth agape, _well maybe not but it seemed like it, _and the then stuttered out.

"How did you know that, not many Non-Quarians would know the significance of my name," she continued running her wrists and shifted from one foot to the other.

I responded with a shrug, "I studied Xenology as a hobby back in University." She looked a little confused but continued the conversation none the less. We continued talking for several more minutes before she got nervous again, I glanced at her strangely, when she suddenly backed up some. I felt a presence come up right behind me and I turned to look at a massive Krogan. He growled and cracked his neck; I glanced down at his combat armor and fairly impressive set of weaponry.

"Uhh, can I help you," I asked sarcasm dripping from my voice.

The Krogan laughed a deep bellowing bark, "You've got a quad human, even more so for a female, now get out of my way before you become a stain on the wall." I glanced at Aeloa cowering behind me and looked at the Krogan towering before me.

"What did she do that's got you so interest," I asked glaring at the Krogan.

He growled and responded, "She borrowed 10,000 credits from my employer and has yet to pay him back." His voice showed that he was just itching for a fight; I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"And what if I pay you the money she owes," even without turning around I could feel the shock coming off Aeloa. The Krogan just chuckled and looked at me with a dead serious expression.

"Money's money, I don't care who's it is, as long I get 10,000 for my boss."

"Here," I said waving my Omni-tool, the credits transferred over to his Omni-tool and he seemed to almost deflate at that. _I swear I think this Krogan might be pouting. _He narrowed his eyes at Aeloa before wandering off; I sighed and turned to her.

"But, but, how could you, just do that for me," she whispered.

"Umm, you don't seem like you have the credits if you have to borrow from his sort," and with that I started walking away. She rapidly caught up to me and started fell silently behind me.

After a few blocks of silence, she spoke up.

"Thank you, no one's been this nice to me ever," she said sadly.

I stopped and looked at her, "What could possibly need to borrow 10,000 credits for?"

She stopped and looked down at her feet, "My pilgrimage, I wanted to bring something really good for the Flotilla, but not too good."

"Umm, why not, I thought the idea was to find the best thing you could," I asked almost rhetorically.

"Normally you would but if I brought something home that my sister, Tali, couldn't top then..." she looked back up at me, hoping that I'd understand.

"I see... wait a minute I thought Quarian siblings were rare," I asked questioningly, fist pumping internally at the news. According to canon, Tali didn't even have a sister, or if she did it was never mentioned.

"They are, but we lost one of the live ships 20 years ago, so my parents decided to have a second child, so my sister was born," well that's new. I started thinking of the possibilities of this, if she was as smart as Tali, then I'd been lucky I'd ran into her.

"Hey Aeloa, I've got a proposition for you."

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 4**

**Salek Apartments: Sky**

"Hey Sky! That thing you ordered is here," Aeola yelled up the stairs to the lab. I looked in the direction of the stairs and sighed. _I was just about finished repairing this circuitry. _I set my tools aside and abandoned the repairs on my arm. The cybernetics were proving harder to repair without the proper tools, and cybernetics weren't very common here. Moving towards the stairs I let the nanites stich the skin back over the gash I had made in my arm. By the time I reached the first floor it had completely healed, I rounded the corner and saw Aeola sitting on a large crate.

"You know, I could help you more if you told me what we were doing," I signed the data-pad and sent the deliveryman away. I grabbed a crowbar from the top of the crate and pried it open, Aeola jumped off as it popped off. The lid fell away to reveal several large tubes, each weighing several hundred pounds each.

"What are these," she asked.

"Particle Accelerator tubes," I answered. Shoving the box into the private elevator with my foot, I hit the button for the lab. Heading to the stairs I motioned for her to follow me up the stairs to the lab.

"What are we doing with them," she asked. We headed up the stairs and into the giant third floor laboratory.

"We're going to create a new element," I said turning to her.


	7. Chapter 7: New Friends, New Enemies

**Ok, just a brief update but ****I'****m back into writing hopefully, schools out, and I have f****r****ee time now so enjoy and let me know what you think.**

Chapter 7: New Friends, New Enemies

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 5**

**Salek Apartments: Sky**

"It's overloading," Aeola yelled. I glanced at the power levels and they were indeed overloading, the power levels were spiking and would demolish the entire building. I bled the power off the accelerator and into an overload unit that Aeloa had constructed. The only reason that we weren't already dead was due to her insistence on building a safety catch. The power levels continued to build well past the safety and was about to go critical. I hit the emergency cut off and killed the power, the energy bled off and the light died down. The round ball of metal floated in the middle of the particle tube, lined up where the particles accelerating faster than the speed of light had passed through.

The metal glowed with heat and energy, the mass effect fields still active causing the ball to stay floating. The metal began to cool, shedding the energy with heat and light, radiating power. Aeola came around the corner, peeking out from behind a support pillar. She walked up beside me and stared at the rapidly cooling metal.

"We're you hiding," I asked her. She stammered and begun to wring her hands over one another. I chuckled and cut her off.

"It's fine, not that it would have done any good," I said flatly. She stared at me through her visor, trying to determine if I was serious or not. Determining that I was she turned away without saying anything. The new element, Unobtanium, finally cooled down enough that I could move close enough to remove it. Grabbing a pair of tongs I did just that, examining it closely for any flaws I moved it to the containment field for safe keeping.

"So what is it," Aeola asked, unable to keep the excitement from her voice. I glanced at her and smiled.

"It's called Unobtanium, its main use is a room temperature superconductor, but its also rated as an extremely high temperature heat sink."

"What! That's amazing, how is that even possible, the pressures need to..." she rambled on and I was hard pressed to stop her.

"Aeloa, Aeola! Calm down," she stuttered to a stop.

"Alright, I have an Alliance representative coming with one of their best scientists; they should be here later today. I want you present at the meeting," I told her while walking to the door of the lab. She scurried after me and into the living room downstairs.

"How did the Alliance discover this element, I mean it must of taken numerous trials and..."

"The Alliance didn't create this, I did. It took me a few days to get it right and the math involved is extremely complicated but, I am the creator of this element," in this universe at least. Back in mine it was known as Unobtanium as well but it was discovered when I was 7, we, as in humanity used it to create room temperature superconductors and absorb energy from all manner of sources. It pushed our understanding of physics and construction to the limits with us being able to build more efficient space craft and begin mining He-3 from the moon.

I don't remember much right after that, I started my training soon after and wasn't allowed a lot of outside influence. The governments version of brainwashing and control I guess, probably would've work if I wasn't rebellious. Sneaking up to the roof and watching, observing the city, the people. Sneaking out into the city, moving through the streets and market places. That's where you learned to survive, not in some clean, safe military complex.

"The Alliance rep. has arrived in the lobby, shall I have Salek send them up," Rebecca asked just moments later.

"Hmph, they're early, send them up," I ordered her.

"They're on their way up," she responded. The elevator started and began its ascent to my apartment. I had asked Salek if I could improve the elevators in the building, I managed to tweak them and get a decent speed out of each one. He waved off my rent for the next month, his way of saying thanks.

"So, how did you get your VI to sound so alive," Aoela asked. My mind suddenly drew blank, I struggled to come up with something, to answer her question that I should of seen coming.

"Its uhh..." I was interrupted by a ding and the elevator doors openned, saved by the bell. Two women walked into my apartment, the one in front walked into my home as if she owned the place. She held her head high and had an air of authority but also arrogance. Her face was skinny and pale, cheek bones too high and her hair pulled back in a tight bun bleached nearly to white. She held herself in away that she was the hottest thing on too legs but easily paled, _pun not so cleverly concealed, _to myself and especially to her colleague.

The women behind her however was gorgeous, a head turner in any room. Her hair was shoulder length and golden, neatly pulled back behind her. Her eyes were a sharp blue like mine, though hers were more electric blue versus my silver blue. Her face was soft but defined and seemed familiar to me but I couldn't place why.

The women in front who I already disliked strode up to me and practically spat in my face, "Erna Smith, Head of Alliance R&D, and the smartest women in any room," she announced in a nasally British accent. _The way she said it just grated on my nerves, not only did she think she was the sexiest women alive, she also though she was the smartest. I could deal with that, who knows she may even be smarter than me, but the way she thought she was better than everyone else automatically just... just..._

I took a glance at the women behind her and saw her roll her eyes, I offered my hand to Erna Smith, and she looked at me like I was a disgusting vermin trying to lick her hand, she shrugged away and motioned to the other women. The women stepped forward and shook my hand.

"Elizabeth Wilde, CEO of Alliance Elements Division," _her accent was different, Australian I think, I could be wrong though. _

"Sky Galloway," I paused. "They have an entire division devoted to elements," I asked with an eye brow raised. She chuckled and I motioned for us to move into the living room. I sat us down and she explained, Erna Smith remained standing, while Aeola ran for drinks.

"Of course, since we discovered Element Zero its been one of the most funded groups of the Alliance, after all when we discovered it at the Mars Archives it catapult us forward 200 years technologically," she replied.

"Hmph, not that you could show us anything more important then Element Zero," Smith interrupted suddenly. I had to bite my tongue from saying anything stupid, I'd never regret it, but it might shut down my chances. Aeola brought back the drinks and sat down beside me, she nursed a dextro drink through a straw, while we had glasses.

"No of course not, but what I do have for you will blow your mind," I told her.

**Several Hours Later...**

"Like I said when we arrived upstairs, the element is stable under room temperature superconducting," I said trying to keep the aggravation out of my voice.

"Impossible," she yelled. "Your falsifying those numbers."

"I've run the numbers seven times, Erna, the data is accurate. It does what she claims it does," Elizabeth countered.

"I calculated the numbers as well and I can give you the data from my omni-tool," Aeola said, turning on her omni-tool, before she could send it, Erna stormed out of the lab and disappeared downstairs.

"Aeola, can you make sure she doesn't wander off, or break anything..." I turned and looked at my Quarian friend and swear I could see her pouting through her mask. She nodded silently and shuffled over to the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that," Elizabeth said once Aeola was out of earshot. "Erna's got a real problem with aliens."

"She's not racist," I told her, it was her turn to raise an eyebrow now. "She seems to hate everyone equally." That got a brief smile out of her, I was surprised, I actually couldn't tell if It was all an act or if she actually enjoyed talking to me. I had finally figured out why Elizabeth seemed so familiar to me, I had only seen her a half dozen times when I played the game and I usually skipped the dialogue with her scenes.

"So lets talk business," I paused, weighing how I should word my next few words. "What does Cerberus want with me Operative Lawson?"


	8. Chapter 8: All Tied Up

**And bam, another chapter. I think I'll keep them sort and post semi regularly, three guesses to who Miranda is talking to at the end and the first two don't count. ****Uhh lots of swearing in this one just a heads up.**** Enjoy.**

**Chapter 8: ****All Tied Up**

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 5**

**Salek Apartments: Sky**

The look on Miranda's face was priceless to say the least, she looked genuinely surprised for a brief moment before her expression hardened.

"I have know idea what you are talking about," she said. Her expression changed again from the once again brief flicker of hardened demeanor to a genuinely confused look. I stared at her for a moment, seemingly making her uncomfortable, but this was Miranda Lawson, genetically engineered perfect human who excels and everything she does.

"Nice try Lawson, but I know who you really are," I had one chance to get this right, and if I failed...

"I don't know..." she started.

"Being second in command of Cerberus must be stressful," I tested.

"Cerberus? I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a confused look, she genuine looked as confused as she sounded. I faltered for a moment, if she's not really Miranda, if she somehow changed like Tali having a sister then this could end badly.

"How's your sister Oriana doing," I asked her suddenly.

Her expression changed rapidly and became murderous, she rapidly drew a hidden pistol and aimed it at me. Reacting on instinct I batted the gun away only for her to strike out at me with blinding speed. The only reason I was able to keep up was to due to the augmentations in my arms and legs. She quickly threw strike after strike and I quickly found myself retreating on the defense. She threw an open palm strike to my face with her right arm, I brushed her hand aside and went for a counter to her abdomen. The blow connected but stopped short of her actual body, I saw a quick shimmer of light before my arm was grabbed and twisted behind me.

Kicking at her heel I knocked her off balance and sent her crashing to the floor, I spun around only to have my feet swept from underneath me. I tried the same move as she closed the distance only for her to leap back out of the way. I sprung to my feet only to be kicked in the chest, staggering back I raised my arms in time to suffer another wave of lighting quick strikes. I felt a tug at the back of my mind and let it loose, a pulse of invisible energy pulsed out from me and pushed her back.

She quickly glowed blue and I was slammed into the far wall with a redounding thud, quickly she was on top of me, straddling my waist and punching at my face. Her technique was aggressive but not savage, each blow that she dealt was strategic and planned. With my Psi abilities back there was a way I could match her biotics. Distracted by my excitement of my power returning she slammed a heavy fist into my guarding arms and I felt my guard give. She pounce on the chance pinning my arms back and increasing her mass so I couldn't struggle out of her grasp.

"Who do you work for," she asked. This caught me off guard so much that I stopped struggling, I gave a her a strange look she glared back at me.

"Tell me! Did my father send you?" she demanded. I raised and eyebrow at her, _yep I feel dumb, how did I not remember how protective she is, but damn she knows how to fight._ I started to laugh, just a chuckle at first but then I broke down into a fit of giggles. It was her turn to give me a strange look and she did just that.

"I would never work for that asshole," I deadpanned, with an underlying aggression. So much shit gets caused by him and the Illusive man near the end of the war its stupid really. She seemed to relax a little bit, but not much, warily she loosened her grip slightly.

"Then who? The Shadow Broker," she asked with venom dripping from her voice.

"No one, not officially anyway," I responded. Her body relaxed and the mass effect fields disappeared, she stood up and offered me her hand. Hesitantly I took her hand and she pulled me to my feet, her body language was relaxed and trusting again.

"Just like that," I asked. She nodded and glanced towards the stairs.

"Just like that," she responded back.

"Uhh what just happened?" I asked her, body still tense, I rubbed my arms and face, she had landing some good blows and they were already starting to bruise. She grimaced and looked semi-apologetically at me.

"Sorry about that, how do you know about Cerberus, and who I am, and Oriana for that matter if you don't work for my father or The Shadow Broker." she asked observing me.

"You mean you do believe me then."

"Of course, I can tell when someone is lying to me, and you were telling the truth. You just haven't told me everything."

"uhh okay then. Well I don't know her personally, but I have access to high level info in the Alliance and the galaxy in general. You'd be amazed at the stuff you can get access to through the extra-net." I lied somewhat, Miranda opened her mouth to say something but an angry shout cut off what she was about to say. The yelling came from downstairs and continued as Miranda and I shared a look.

We dashed to the stairs to find a sight that made my blood boil, Erna that self-righteous bitch was verbally beating Aeola. She turned when we came down the stairs and marched over to me.

"There is no way that that element you claim to have created does what you say, I refuse to be beat Academically by some upstart whore of a child who dresses like that." she spat at me. My fist clenched and I had to resist the major urge to punch this women as hard as I could. I quickly glanced down at what I was wearing, I still had my short shorts and tank top on, my hair pulled back behind my head in a loose braid.

I glanced at Miranda who was shaking her head, I relaxed and let my hands go slack. If I messed this up now I could loose this opportunity, and possible a new one as well. Erna continued on her rant and began yelling about the scientific impossibilities and the charges she could throw against me to keep me from having any pull in the Alliance. But what really caught my attention was her next comment.

"And of all the filth and dirt that you could of brought, you bring a suit-rat into your home, give her a key to the place and trust her! What the hell is wrong with you, working on a project like this for the Alliance and letting aliens have access to it! I..I.. I have never seen a stupider person in my life!" she spat at me.

I couldn't help it, she crossed too many lines, I could care less what the hell she thought of me, my intelligence or how I dressed. But she went there, to the Xenophobic, selfish, aggressive stereotype that most aliens think humans are like. I punched her, it wasn't even that hard either, but after fighting Miranda and the blows she dealt and took it was pretty bloody. Blood gushed from her nose as she went down, she yelped in surprise and sprawled onto the floor.

"Listen here you little self-righteous brat, I can tolerate insults and even the occasional blow, but I will not sit here and listen to you bitch and insult my friend. This is not an Alliance project, its my project and if I have anything to say about it, you'll never get within a mile it. Finally, you have nerve to come into my home, insult me, insult Aeola, and be the most racist piece of shit I've ever seen, Get. The FUCK. OUT!"

She glared daggers at me and picked her self off the floor, she examined the amount of blood on her hands from her bleeding nose and motioned with the other hand to Miranda or Elizabeth...

"Wilde, lets go, see if this little bitch ever gets to work for the Alliance or anyone for that matter." she stormed out of the living room and into the elevator, Miranda hot on her heels. She slammed a fist into the elevator buttons and winced at the contact, I smirked and the stupid outburst and thought about my own._ I hadn't yelled or gotten that pissed at someone umm... ever?_ I shook my head and just collapsed on the floor, Aeola said something but I waved her off. I opened up my omni-tool and a message appeared in my in-box, The contact was one Elizabeth Wilde, the message was mostly boring stuff about her trying to cool things over and get my project the funding I needed.

I second message popped up and this was marked from Miranda Lawson, a front and a real contact ping makes sense. I opened up to see one sentence.

_**Flux, 8pm tomorrow night.**_

_**M. L.**_

I stared at the message before dropping my head to the floor with a groan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 5**

**Unknown Location****: ****Miranda**

"And your sure she'll be an asset" he asked. I stared at him, not faltering in my gaze.

"Positive, she was weakened and not at full capacity and she nearly beat me, and her mind is the thing we're after anyways."

"Yes all well and good, but make sure you don't fail this Miranda."

"I won't Sir, I never do," I reassured him.

"See to it that you don't," he cut the connection with a push of the button. The orange grid disappeared and I stood once again in the backroom of the warehouse. I blinked as the reality of where I actually stood set in, moving as quickly I could for the room opposite I thought about Sky. Young, brilliant, fierce, a tad naive, she reminded me of myself in my earlier career.


	9. Chapter 9: Details, All About Details

**Been occupied as of late and have no excuse, so here it is.**

**Chapter 9: Details, All About Details **

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day 5**

**Salek Apartments: Sky**

"I have to meet up with her Aeola, she's too important for me too not me to show. Besides it might not be so good for my life expectancy if I don't show," I told her.

"But she's Cerberus!" Aeola yelled.

"I know, and that's why I have to go," I said. Aeola glared at me and crossed her arms, turning away slightly.

"Why do you hate Cerberus so much? I know they are human supremacists but what did they ever do to the Quarians?"

"They killed 1.6 million Quarians when they attacked the flotilla 17 years ago…" she said somberly.

I was quiet for a few minutes before I finally found my voice, "what happened, tell me about it."

Sighing she began her explanation, "when I was 2 years old, Cerberus attacked the flotilla. They were chasing some Alliance officer that was an 'Asset' to them; we had taken the officer in and offered her refuge. When Cerberus came to capture her we refused, they sabotaged the Rayya." She paused and I could tell she was trying not to cry or show much emotion.

"They sabotaged the Mass effect core and then the life support. The mass effect core leaked Eezo and killed any Quarians in clean rooms. Then the life support shut off and killed anyone that was not in vacuum rated gear or not in a sealed room like I was."

"You mean you were there when it happened," I said quietly. I turned and looked at Aeola, she simply nodded her head and started to cry. I pulled her into a hug while she gasped out.

"My mother was there as well, she got a minor… a minor lacing of Eezo poisoning…She died a couple years after that." I hugged her tighter and let her cry it out. Soothing her repeatedly, we spent the next several hours in a cycle. She would tell me a bit and then begin to cry, it was nearly midnight when she couldn't speak anymore. I guided her up to the second floor to her bedroom; the room was sparsely decorated but had many scrap parts and electronics lying around.

She collapsed onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. I quickly moved from the room and closed the door. Moving to up to the lab I moved to the area where I had sealed off for the visit with Miranda and Erna. Waving my arm in front of the sensor, I opened to reveal my armoury of tech. I had finally gotten down organizing all my gear from before. I looked at all the gear that laid on tables and shelves, most of it was easy to fix, some could easily be improved but most of the improvements were out of my tech expertise. I specialized in cybernetics, neural nets and Artificial Intelligence, not mass effect fields and starships. I picked up the dragonfly suit module and opened the casing, the inside was a fried mess of nanocircuitry and ash. I sighed and placed the device back on the table and headed for my room.

Quickly changing out of my clothes and removing my combat skin I collapsed onto my bed. Opening my omni-tool I began searching the internet for all topics related to Mass effect field based technology and how it worked. I spent several hours doing this.

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day ****6**

**Salek Apartments: Sky**

I woke up the next morning to a delicious smell drifting its way into my room. I quickly showered and got dressed, making sure to throw my combat skin on underneath my clothes. The skin retracted to reveal nothing abnormal about my normal set up. I moved downstairs to a Quarian in the kitchen, cooking bacon of all things. She turned and jumped when I approached, putting a 3 fingered hand over the left side of her chest.

"Heh, sorry Aeola... What's all this for?" I asked gesturing to the assortment of food besides the bacon.

"I, well... for last night, you were so understanding and you actually listened. Not many Non-Quarians would do that, so I though I would pay you back." She finished cooking and placed the plate full of food in front of me. I raised an eyebrow and dug into the food.

"Thanks Aeola, this is really good," I said between mouthfuls. I quickly scarfed down the food and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, its only 9" she called after me.

"I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in a while," I called as I hit the elevator button. It arrived in short order and I hit the button for the lobby.

"You'll keep an eye on her right," I asked Rebecca.

"Of course, I'm fully capable of watching you, and the apartment at the same time," she responded immediately.

"I feel like we've had this conversation before," I told her back. Silence greeted my response, I arrived in the lobby and waved at Selak as I went by. I exited the lobby of the building and took in the ward around me I chose a random direction and started walking. I walked for several hours before I ended up at the Asari restaurant I ate at when I first got here. I popped in to get a quick lunch before I kept wandering, I spotted the store that I had sold my old guns and decided it was time I got some new ones. I walked in the store to see a Turian leave with a custom gun in his hands, he looked happy, or angry... I cant quite tell with Turians.

"Hey Mitchell."

"Hello Sky, how's my favorite customer," he asked with a smile.

"I don't know about that," I responded truthfully.

"Sold me one of the best pieces I've ever gotten my hands on," he said with a smile.

I chuckled and moved up to the counter where he stood, he let me browse for a moments before speaking.

"So, what can I do for you Sky," he asked curiously.

"I want the best comparable pair of pistols to my two desert eagles," I said glancing up at him, he stroked his chin for a minute before heading into the back of the store. He came back out a few minutes later with a pistol I had never seen before, he set it down and motioned for me to take a closer look.

I picked it up and was reminded of a lot of the desert eagle except it was lighter and a deeper silver color with black coated rubber grip. The design was obviously based around the technology of this time period and had venting slots instead of clips. What I found unique about this gun however was how I felt like I was missing another gun instantly.

"There's another gun isn't there," I asked grinning. He smiled back at brought out a second pistol. I picked up the second pistol and felt the weight. Alone the pistols felt unbalanced, off center, but holding both of them I felt like they were a made for me. I spun the pistols on the palm of my hand before gripping them tightly.

"How much," I asked. He pursed his lips before stroking his beard, he paced back and forth for a moment before speaking.

"They're brand new, my own creation, I don't think I could just sell them for cheap. How's 125,000 a piece?" I glanced at the guns in my hands, they were definitely nice guns.

"Do you have a firing range?" he nodded and motion to the back room, I walked into that room and didn't come out for hours.

**Citadel, Zakera Ward**

**Day ****6**

**Zakera Ward****: ****Miranda**

I sat waiting in a corner booth, waiting on Sky. _What a curious name,_ I thought to myself. I glanced around the room, glaring at any drunk patron who tried to sit down and flirt. It was an advantage if not an annoying one that I turned the head of every man and even the occasional women in any room that I walked into to. A quick glance at my omni-tool showed that it was 7:59pm Earth Standard Time, when I looked back up Sky was in sitting in the booth opposite to me. I raised an eyebrow and was curious to how she sneak in without me noticing.

"So, you wanted to talk, I'm here to talk." she said while leaning back further in to the booth.


	10. Chapter 10: Propositions

**Update, finally. That is all.**

Chapter 10: Propositions

**Citadel: Zakera Ward**

**Day 6 7:56pm Earth Standard**

**Flux Exterior: Sky**

I sat outside of Flux for two hours, high above the street level walk ways where the Keepers dwell. The cat walks where only the keepers roam and assassins with sinister motives. I was about to move away from the catwalk to the level below when I spotted Miranda enter the club. She made her way inside and disappeared, I brought up the security cameras in the building, and thanks to Rebbeca I had a full layout and a visual of the interior.

I got up and started moving for the building, the catwalk led me to an access point above the club. Entering I noticed that Miranda sat on the opposite side of the room, dark corner, exit nearby, defendable if need be. Smart, hard to get to unseen, by most. Moving along the catwalk I made my way over to the center of the room, dropping down to the bar along the wall. The Volus bartender didn't seem to notice and I took advantage of that. One of the servers grabbed a tray of drinks and headed for a table, following in her shadow she made her way over to a table just past Miranda's.

Quickly slipping into the booth while Miranda glanced at the passing server, she turns back around and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"So you wanted to talk, here I am let's talk," I told her plainly.

She glanced around before leaning closer to whisper, "We were wondering if you be willing to be part of a business arrangement," she said as casual as she could.

"What sort of business are we talking about here?" I responded.

"The kind that needs your kind of training and skills," she said. My mind froze, _did she know? No, how could she now who I am really. _

"And what training and skills would that be exactly," I asked a tiny bit nervous. She hesitated a moment before saying.

"The kind that allowed you to get in here undetected, the reflex you showed when we fought, the assassin training you've obviously had," she said whispering the last part.

I relaxed and did a casual glance around the room, it was much more subtle than Miranda's and she noticed, she also notice the REHUD glow slightly as I activated the facial recognition software.

"See, that's what we are talking about, you obviously have cybernetic enhancements or very good tech, as well as the skills we need," she told me.

"What's the job," I asked.

"Not here, I'll forward a data packet to your omni-tool if you're interested," she responded.

"Depends on what you need done, forward me the packet and all consider it," I countered. My omni tool glowed briefly and chirped twice signaling two messages. One was the data packet from Miranda, the other was a de-encryption program, also from Miranda, that had the key for the data packet as well as the ability to hack other locks and codes.

"Consider it an advance payment," she said. Standing up she walked away without even saying goodbye. Most of the club watched her as she left, the humans and aliens alike. Once she was gone the room returned to its energized state, I moved away from the table once Miranda disappeared from my sight. Grabbing a bar stool I waved down the Volus bartender.

"Greetings Earth-clan, vzchh, how can I help you? Vzchh," he said.

"Something heavy, anything you got," I told him.

He grabbed a vial from under the counter and poured it into a shot glass.

"Vzchh, Batarian Shard Wine," he said sliding the glass down to me. I threw the shot back in a single gulp and slammed the glass down. I waved my omnitool to the bartender and walked away. Making my way down the steps I past Nerena and a group of other C-sec officers.

She recognized me and waved me over.

"Hey Sky, How's it going?" She asked.

"Pretty good, been seeing the sites," I said with a wave of my hand. I noticed the group of officers behind her. There were several Turians a few Salarians, and even a Human in C-Sec uniform.

"Glad to hear it, not getting in anymore trouble I hope," she said jokingly.

"Not at all," I told her with almost no sarcasm.

"Oh by the way, these are officers Vasalo, Bahe and Raymond" she said pointing to the two Salarians and the one human.

"And this is officer Flavick, Actthan, and Vakarian," she pointed to the three Turians in the back. My eyes snapped over to a familiar Turian when she said Vakarian. I looked over and saw none other than Garrus Vakarian. Most of the officers just waved hello and moved past but Neryna stayed a moment.

"Why don't you join us Sky?" She asked as the other officers left, some glanced back and scowled at me being invited.

"No, I couldn't intrude, these are your friends, I wouldn't fit in," I told her back.

"Of course you can intrude, how else would you make friends. Now come on, I'll buy you a drink." She countered and then starting walking before I could retort.

I glanced at the time on my Omni-tool and shrugged, it was barely after 8pm, just after 10pm Citadel time. It was a little strange, most species went by their home world clock, but the Citadel ran on a 28 hour day with 14 hours each in the morning and afternoon instead of 12. It worked the same just with 2 extra hours where 14 o'clock exists in both morning and afternoon.

I followed them back into the club, I thought this night would be fun. Certainly depends on your definition of fun.

**Citadel: Zakera Ward**

**Day 6 10:23pm Earth Standard**

**Flux Bar: Sky**

"And so I told him you're as vocal as an Elcor!" I smiled as laughter erupted around the table as Flavick finished his joke. Flavick was the Turian officer that Nerena is partnered with. I met him briefly after I was attacked by the Batarians. I had talked to the Salarians the most throughout the night, they were happy to be able to speak with someone that could keep up with them in science and knowledge. Not that the others weren't smart they just didn't have the same areas of expertise.

The one Turian had a problem with me though, I don't know what it was but he obviously had it out for me. He glared at me for the longest time; I also noticed that he glared at the other Human, Darren Raymond, a fair amount as well. Darren seemed to avoid him the best he could, putting the Salarians, Nerena and Flavick and Garrus between him and Actthan, I think it was. Garrus's voice snapped me out of my musings.

"So Sky," He said grabbing my attention, I gave it to him while taking a sip of tequila. Garrus, and I had talked for a while already and were getting along better than Actthan and I.

" Nerena told me that you took down some Batarians that attacked you," he asked almost skeptically.

"Yeah, attacked me when I cut through an alley, thought they could get the jump on me," I said with a wave of my hand. Nerena nodded enthusiastically at him and went back to her conversation with Flavick.

"Yeah and how'd that go for you," he asked with a grin.

"Kicked their asses," I grinned back.

"Bullshit," came a voice from beside us, Actthan was glaring at us from the far side of the table. He swung his arms in a drunken wave and then pointed a talon at me.

"There's no way, a runt of a human like you," he said slurring. "Took down a pair of armed Batarians," he finished. The table had grown silent and all eyes were on Actthan and I.

I leaned forward and spoke softly, "and why is that?"

"You humans think you're so tough," he slurred more. "But reality is we would have beat the shit of you if the Asari hadn't stopped us."

"Ah sure, but that's why we were the first species to beat back the great Turian navy," I said with a smirk.

"Why you little," he said as his talon connected with my face. I tumbled to the side knocking Garrus and Nerena to the ground. I rolled to my feet popping up in a fighting stance just to be tackled by 250lbs of Turian. He crashed on top of me knocking the air from my lungs. I felt the weight lighten as Garrus pulled him off of me, Actthan back handed, or maybe back taloned, Garrus into a still rising Nerena. He took a swing at me with his left arm, I grabbed it and pulled it over my right shoulder slamming him in the gut with my left fist. I dropped down and swept my legs low, knocking his own legs out from under him and he crashed to the floor.

I rolled to the side as Actthan slashed at my legs from the floor. He scrambled to his feet and took another swipe, batting away his arm my fist connected with his head. He staggered back as I made multiple strikes at him. He blocked a few but was hopelessly drunk, I landed a kick on his legs and brought him to his knees.

"Yield," I told him. He growled and lunged at me, a quick kick to his lunging hand and a roundhouse kick to his abdomen later he was groaning on the ground.

I turned around to a slack jaw Darren, a grinning Garrus and Flavick and an impressed group of Salarians, I noticed the rest of the club was silent and everybody was staring at me. I quick glare and they returned to what they were doing.

"Damn girl, you know how to fight," Darren said slapping me on the back, his six and a half foot frame dwarfing mine.

"Actthan had it coming, nice job," Flavick told me. Garrus just nodded in agreement, the Salarians were all chattering excitedly but one glared and went and picked up Actthan. I winced when I looked over at him and the Salarian.

"I should go, tell them I'm sorry," I said motioning to Actthan. I pushed through the group surrounding me and moved out of the club. Not twenty feet out, I heard Garrus's voice.

"Sky wait!" He jogged up to me quickly and stopped a few feet away.

"That was damn impressive," he complimented.

"It was nothing, he was drunk, I'm not," I argued back.

"Actthan is one of the best hand to hand fighters I know, even drunk."

I shrugged and started walking, Garrus followed.

"So if you're not busy tomorrow, I was wondering umm, if you wanted to uhh, do something," he stuttered. I stopped in my tracks; I spun around to look at Garrus. His mandibles flared in what I think were an embarrassed smile. I cocked my head to the side and smiled a sassy grin.

"Garrus, if I didn't know you better I'd say you we're asking me on a date," his smile turned serious.

"Yeah, I mean if you aren't against that kind of thing," he began. He wasn't bad looking for an alien, muscular, tall, he's smart, funny, confident,cunning, definitely something exotic compared to what I'm used to. Not that they allowed a lot of that at the Acadamy.

"No, but are you open to dating another species," I asked him.

"Asari aren't bad looking and human women are pretty much the same, so yeah" he said with a confident smile. "I'm good with it,"

"Alright, I think it'll be fun, aren't I a little young for you though?" I asked questionably.

"I'm only 24 Sky," he said with a serious tone. This news surprised me, I knew Garrus was close to Shepard's age but I thought he was older.

"But I thought Turians had to spent 15 years in military service before they could do anything else," I questioned him.

"They do and I am, I started at 13, minimum age for military enlistment is 15 but my father got me in early to learn. Graduated at 16, and finished my tour a bit early but in my eleventh year, and now I'm part of C-sec which counts towards military service," He said proudly.

"Wow, human enlistment minimum is 18, how long ago did you finish your service?" I asked.

"A few weeks ago, Flavick got me into C-sec and we came out to celebrate tonight," he said.

"Well you don't waste anytime picking up," I said slyly.

He cocked his head at that, "uhem, so..."

"That's a yes," I said. His mandibles flared in a smile and he regained some of his demeanor.

"So uhh, when do you uhh, want to meet up," he asked. I motioned for him to walk and so we did. We began walking along the main streets and heading the direction of my apartment.

"Walk me to my apartment, and you can pick me up there tomorrow," I told him while grabbing his taloned hand. He bristled a bit as I grabbed his hand but relaxed after a moment. I pulled him along at a quickened pace and dodged around the small crowds at this time of night. Garrus pointed out a series of landmarks and places to go as we walked along the ward streets.

"I thought you said you just got here," I asked him as we neared my apartment.

"I did, but I've been here on shore leave before." He responded casually.

"Oh nice, well here we are," I motioned to the apartment. His brow rose in surprise, he glanced over at me.

"You live here," He asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, top floor penthouse," I told him. We walked in the front door and Salek raised a hand in greeting. Moving into the elevator I hit the button for the top floor, the elevator jolted into motions and began its ascent.

"So do you live with your parents or..." he asked.

My face darkened at the mention of parents, I hadn't seen mine in over a decade and they practically gave me away. When the military came to collect me, 'For the safety and protection of those around me', my parents didn't even resist. They just let them take me at the age of 6, spent my time stuck in training facilities, labs and military bases. But no they were gone, just me here, everyone I knew was probably dead. Amelia, Jason, My parents, my brother, everyone.

I turned to Garrus and replied, "No just me, just me and my Quarian roommate."

**Citadel: Zakera Ward**

**Day 6 11:34pm Earth Standard**

**Cerberus Hideout: Miranda**

"Yes sir, she's agreed to look at the package," I told him.

"Good, I expect a progress update within the day," he said.

Nodding he cut the connection and the illusion of Cronus Station disappeared and was replaced by the white walls of the warehouse. I glanced around the room before heading for the apartment section of the hideout. I dropped onto the bed I had been given and opened my omni-tool, several progress reports from agents and project heads as well as one from Sky.

Opening the e-mail, I saw a short message from Sky.

_I accept, give me the equipment I've requested and we'll talk when it's done._

I smiled as soon as I saw the message, she was hooked. We had a new asset to Cerberus.


End file.
